Vehicle headlamp control using sensing and communication systems

ABSTRACT

A driver assistance system of a vehicle includes a forward viewing sensor disposed at the vehicle and having a field of sensing forward of the vehicle. A processor is operable to process data captured by the forward sensing sensor to determine the presence of another vehicle. A receiver is disposed at the subject vehicle and operable to receive a wireless communication of information pertaining to other vehicles or traffic participants in the vicinity of the subject vehicle. A control, responsive to determination via processing of captured data that another vehicle is present ahead of the subject vehicle, is operable to adjust a headlamp beam setting of the equipped vehicle, and the control, responsive to determination via received information that another traffic participant is present in the vicinity of the subject vehicle, is operable to adjust the headlamp beam setting of the subject vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the filing benefits of U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 62/142,705, filed Apr. 3, 2015, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a vehicle vision system for avehicle and, more particularly, to a vehicle vision system that utilizesone or more cameras at a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Use of imaging sensors in vehicle imaging systems is common and known.Examples of such known systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,949,331; 5,670,935 and/or 5,550,677, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. Also, communication systems forvehicles may provide for communication between vehicles, betweenvehicles and infrastructure, and/or between a vehicle and a remoteserver. Such car2car or V2V and car2X or V2X technology provides forcommunication between vehicles based on information provided by one ormore vehicles and/or information provided by infrastructure or a remoteserver or the like. Examples of such systems are described in U.S. Pat.No. 7,580,795 and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US 2012-0218412, publishedAug. 30, 2012, and/or US 2012-0062743, published Mar. 15, 2012, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a driver assistance system or headlampcontrol system for a vehicle that utilizes one or more sensors orcameras to capture data representative of images exterior and forward ofthe vehicle, and provides a control that, responsive to processing ofdata captured by a sensor of the vehicle, and responsive to a V2V or V2Ior V2X communication or the like received by a receiver of the vehicle,is operable to determine the presence or approach of another trafficparticipant or vehicle ahead of the equipped vehicle, such as on theroad being traveled by the equipped vehicle or on another road parallelto the road being traveled by the equipped vehicle or on a cross roadthat intersects the road being traveled by the equipped vehicle.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a driver assistancesystem of a vehicle includes a forward sensing sensor (such as a forwardviewing camera or a forward sensing non-imaging sensor, such as animaging thermal sensor or a 3D point-cloud LIDAR sensor or the like)disposed at a vehicle equipped with the driver assistance system andhaving a field of view forward of the equipped vehicle. A processor isoperable to process data captured by the forward sensing sensor todetermine the presence of another vehicle (such as another vehicle onthe road traveled by the equipped vehicle or on another road or laneadjacent to or parallel to the road traveled by the equipped vehicle). Areceiver is disposed at the equipped vehicle and is operable to receivea wireless communication of information pertaining to other vehicles ortraffic participants (such as other vehicles or motorcyclists orbicyclists or pedestrians) in the vicinity of the equipped vehicle. Acontrol is responsive to processing of captured data and responsive toreceived information, and the control is operable to adjust a headlampbeam setting of the equipped vehicle responsive to a determination, viaprocessing of captured data, that another vehicle is present ahead ofthe equipped vehicle, such as at a location where the headlamps of theequipped vehicle, if on a higher beam setting, would bother the driverof the other vehicle determined to be present ahead of the equippedvehicle, and the control is operable to adjust the headlamp beam settingresponsive to a determination, via received information, of anothervehicle or traffic participant in the vicinity of the equipped vehicleand approaching the path of travel of the equipped vehicle such that theheadlamps of the equipped vehicle, if on the higher beam setting, maybother the other traffic participant when the traffic participantarrives at the path of travel of the equipped vehicle or otherwise is ator near the path of travel of the equipped vehicle.

The system provides thus enhanced headlamp control (and/or otherfunction or functions) when an oncoming or preceding or crossing othervehicle (or other traffic participant) may not be detected by theforward viewing sensor (such as due to an obstruction or weathercondition or a hill or curvature of the road), so that the controladjusts the headlamp beam setting to a lower beam setting so that thedriver of the oncoming or preceding or crossing vehicle or other trafficparticipant is not bothered by the higher beams of the headlamps when alower beam setting is appropriate.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle with a vision system thatincorporates cameras in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A vehicle vision system and/or driver assist system and/or objectdetection system and/or alert system operates to capture images exteriorof the vehicle and may process the captured image data to display imagesand to detect objects at or near the vehicle and in the predicted pathof the vehicle, such as to assist a driver of the vehicle in maneuveringthe vehicle in a rearward direction. The vision system includes an imageprocessor or image processing system that is operable to receive imagedata from one or more cameras and may provide an output to a displaydevice for displaying images representative of the captured image data.The system is responsive to communications from other vehicles, such asvia a V2V communication or other wireless communication, to enhancedetection of other vehicles on the road that may not be within the fieldof view of the camera and/or may not be readily detectable ordiscernible in captured image data processed by the image processor.Responsive to outputs of the image processor and the V2V communicationreceiver, the system may control or adjust a headlamp of the vehicle,such as when the system determines an oncoming or preceding or crossingvehicle or other traffic participant (such as approaching from ahead ofthe equipped vehicle and not in view of the forward viewing sensor orcamera), as discussed below.

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, a driver assistance system or imaging system or vision system10 of a vehicle 12 includes at least one exterior facing imaging sensoror camera 14, such as a forward facing imaging sensor or camera (such asat the windshield 12 a), and the system may optionally include multipleexterior facing imaging sensors or cameras, such as a rearwardly facingcamera at the rear of the vehicle, and a sidewardly/rearwardly facingcamera at respective sides of the vehicle (FIG. 1). The camera orcameras capture image data exterior of the vehicle, with the camerahaving a lens for focusing images at or onto an imaging array or imagingplane or imager of the camera. The driver assistance system 10 alsoincludes a receiver 16 that receives wireless communications fromexterior the vehicle (such as wireless communications via avehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication system orthe like), and a control 18 (although shown in the interior rearviewmirror assembly of the vehicle, clearly the receiver and control may bedisposed at any suitable location in the vehicle, such as at the cameramodule or at a separate in-cabin or in-engine compartment location orthe like) is operable to adjust a headlamp beam setting of the headlamps12 b of the vehicle responsive to (i) processing of data captured by theforward sensing sensor 14 and (ii) processing of information receivedvia the receiver 16, as discussed below.

The forward viewing camera 14 may be disposed at the windshield of thevehicle and view through the windshield and forward of the vehicle, suchas for a machine vision system (such as for traffic sign recognition,headlamp control, pedestrian detection, collision avoidance, lane markerdetection and/or the like). The vision system includes a control orelectronic control unit (ECU) or processor that is operable to processimage data captured by the camera or cameras and may detect objects orthe like and/or provide displayed images at a display device for viewingby the driver of the vehicle (such as being part of or incorporated inor at an interior rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle or elsewhereat or in the vehicle). The data transfer or signal communication fromthe camera to the ECU may comprise any suitable data or communicationlink, such as a vehicle network bus or the like of the equipped vehicle.

Many vehicles today use a forward viewing camera and image processor todetect other vehicles on the road ahead of the equipped vehicle, wherebya control system may control or adjust the headlights of the equippedvehicle when an oncoming, preceding or crossing vehicle approaches theequipped vehicle from ahead or in front of the equipped vehicle (such asby utilizing aspects of the headlamp control systems described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,796,094, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety). Some vehicle driver assist systems have utilized mapfusion, radar fusion and/or the like to enhance performance of thedriver assist system. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) fusion may be providedfor a modified adaptive cruise control (ACC) performance if there isslow traffic on the road ahead of the equipped vehicle and ahead of thesensing range of the forward viewing camera/radar.

Such a forward viewing sensor may have a range of about 300-500 metersif it is line of sight (relatively flat road with no obstructions).Because a V2V or V2I communication may be a Wi-Fi (802.11p)communication, the communication signal has similar range limits withreduced range if obstructions are present. In Europe it has beenproposed to use 4G or 5G for vehicle communications. It has improvedrange, but has other potential issues. One potential issue is that thevehicle data is sent to a cloud where other people can retrieve it,which results in delays in accessing the data which can be problematicand not safety critical capable.

The present invention provides a system with camera data and vehiclecommunication data fusion that is used with advanced lighting controland lighting patterns so as to avoid having the bright or high beamlights on that may blind the drivers of other vehicles that are “off thegrid” and not yet viewable by the camera (or other forward viewing orforward sensing sensor, such as a radar sensor or lidar sensor or thelike). For example, the forward sensing sensor may comprise a 3D-mappingLidar that captures a point-cloud of sensed data, and preferablycomprises a solid-state 3D point-cloud Lidar such as a 3D Lidar forADAS, Autonomous Vehicles and 3D Mapping, such as the type availablefrom Quanergy Systems Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. The forward sensingsensor may comprise an automotive night vision camera sensor such asFLIR's 320×240 Vanadium Oxide uncooled infrared sensor utilizingAutovox™ technology and based on uncooled microbolometer technologydeveloped by FLIR Systems, Inc. of Wilsonville, Oreg. and supplied byAutoliv Inc. of Auburn Hills, Mich., for use for a night vision systemon likes of BMW vehicles. Optionally, the sensor may, for example,utilize aspects of the sensors and systems described in U.S. patentapplications, Ser. No. 15/076,915, filed Mar. 22, 2016 , and/or Ser. No.14/957,708, filed Dec. 3, 2015, and/or U.S. Pat. No. 8,013,780, whichare hereby incorporated here by reference in their entireties.

The system may be responsive to either form of vehicle communicationsfrom or pertaining to other vehicles in the vicinity of the equippedvehicle, such as V2V communications (where the vehicles communicateinformation directly to one another) or 4G or 5G communications (wherethe vehicles communicate information to the cloud and access othervehicle information via the internet and cell towers). The system thusprovides enhanced automatic or intelligent headlamp control thatprovides enhanced detection of other vehicles via vehicle-communicatedinformation that may or may not be detected by the camera or sensor ofthe equipped vehicle. The system thus adjust the headlamps to dim oradapt the beam pattern before the oncoming or preceding or crossingvehicle is in range of the headlamps (and camera) to avoid blinding thedriver of the oncoming or preceding or crossing vehicle or other trafficparticipant (or participants) before the headlamps are dimmed. Forexample, if the system determines (responsive to a V2V communication orthe like) that an approaching vehicle or other traffic participant (suchas a motorcyclist or a pedestrian with a smartphone, which maycommunicate via a V2V or V2I or V2X communication system) is coming up ahill towards the equipped vehicle and ahead of the equipped vehicle, thesystem may dim the headlamps before the approaching vehicle is in theline of the headlamps of the equipped vehicle (even though the forwardviewing camera and image processor may not yet have determined thepresence of the approaching vehicle).

The system of the present invention thus may, for example, adapt thelighting pattern for crossing traffic (which is not yet in the camera'sfield of view or not detectable by the camera), such that the headlampsare adjusted to a lower beam setting when the system determines thatcross traffic is approaching from either side of the vehicle, such as atan intersection ahead of the vehicle. The system of the presentinvention may also adapt the lighting pattern for pedestrians and othertraffic participants (such as a pedestrian with a smartphone, which maycommunicate via a V2X communication system), to limit glare to thepedestrians generally ahead of the vehicle and not in the field of viewof the camera, such as pedestrians at the side of an intersection andpreparing or beginning to cross the street ahead of the vehicle.

Optionally, the system of the present invention may adapt the lightingpattern for traffic on a parallel road which is just partly visible butcould be glared. Such a system would utilize V2V or V2I communication(or other vehicle communication) information to determine if othervehicles are on the parallel road (such as the opposite side of adivided highway or the like) where the view to the other road may bepartially obstructed (such as via bushes or guard rails or the like).Thus, even if the camera's view of an approaching vehicle is partiallyobstructed, the system may adjust the headlamp setting to a lower beamsetting if the system determines that another vehicle is at the otherroad within a threshold distance to the equipped vehicle.

Optionally, the system of the present invention may use the informationof present but non-visible or non-detected traffic ahead of the equippedvehicle at or within or outside of a threshold distance to adapt timersand thresholds of light patterns so as to achieve smoother behavior oradjustment of the headlamp beam settings. For example, the system mayramp down the headlamp setting to a lower beam setting when the systemdetermines an approach of a vehicle that is not yet within a range thatthe higher beam setting would be a nuisance, but is approaching thatrange.

Optionally, the system of the present invention may reduce misdetectionsof other vehicles at low visibility conditions, such as fog, rain orsnow conditions, by utilizing V2V communications or the like todetermine when other vehicles are near or approaching the equippedvehicle, even if those other vehicles are not detectable by the camerasystem of the vehicle.

When using the V2V or V2I information or data, the system may use anelectronic horizon since the road information needs can be combined withthe V2V or V2I data or the like to get even more data and performanceimprovements.

Thus, the present invention includes a control that, responsive toprocessing of data captured by a sensor of the vehicle, and responsiveto a V2V or V2I communication or the like received by a receiver of thevehicle, is operable to determine the presence or approach of anothervehicle ahead of the equipped vehicle, such as on the road beingtraveled by the equipped vehicle or on another road parallel to the roadbeing traveled by the equipped vehicle or on a cross road thatintersects the road being traveled by the equipped vehicle. The systemprovides enhanced headlamp control (and/or other function) when theapproaching vehicle is not detected by the forward viewing camera (suchas due to an obstruction or weather condition or a hill or curvature ofthe road), so that the driver of the approaching vehicle is not botheredby the higher beams of the headlamps when a lower beam setting isappropriate.

The system may also communicate with other systems, such as via avehicle-to-vehicle communication system or a vehicle-to-infrastructurecommunication system or the like. Such car2car or vehicle to vehicle(V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (car2X or V2X or V2I or 4G or 5G)technology provides for communication between vehicles and/orinfrastructure based on information provided by one or more vehiclesand/or information provided by a remote server or the like. Such vehiclecommunication systems may utilize aspects of the systems described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 6,693,517; 7,156,796 and/or 7,580,795, and/orU.S. Publication Nos. US-2012-0218412, US-2012-0062743, US-2015-0251599;US-2015-0158499; US-2015-0124096; US-2015-0352953 and/orUS-2016-0036917, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/996,570,filed Jan. 15, 2016 , which are hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

The camera or sensor may comprise any suitable camera or sensor.Optionally, the camera may comprise a “smart camera” that includes theimaging sensor array and associated circuitry and image processingcircuitry and electrical connectors and the like as part of a cameramodule, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systems described inInternational Publication Nos. WO 2013/081984 and/or WO 2013/081985,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The system includes an image processor operable to process image datacaptured by the camera or cameras, such as for detecting objects orother vehicles or pedestrians or the like in the field of view of one ormore of the cameras. For example, the image processor may comprise anEyeQ2 or EyeQ3 image processing chip available from Mobileye VisionTechnologies Ltd. of Jerusalem, Israel, and may include object detectionsoftware (such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,855,755;7,720,580 and/or 7,038,577, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties), and may analyze image data to detectvehicles and/or other objects. Responsive to such image processing, andwhen an object or other vehicle is detected, the system may generate analert to the driver of the vehicle and/or may generate an overlay at thedisplayed image to highlight or enhance display of the detected objector vehicle, in order to enhance the driver's awareness of the detectedobject or vehicle or hazardous condition during a driving maneuver ofthe equipped vehicle.

The vehicle may include any type of sensor or sensors, such as imagingsensors or radar sensors or lidar sensors or ladar sensors or ultrasonicsensors or the like. The imaging sensor or camera may capture image datafor image processing and may comprise any suitable camera or sensingdevice, such as, for example, a two dimensional array of a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in at least 640 columns and 480 rows (atleast a 640×480 imaging array, such as a megapixel imaging array or thelike), with a respective lens focusing images onto respective portionsof the array. The photosensor array may comprise a plurality ofphotosensor elements arranged in a photosensor array having rows andcolumns. Preferably, the imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensorelements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensorelements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensorelements or pixels. The imaging array may capture color image data, suchas via spectral filtering at the array, such as via an RGB (red, greenand blue) filter or via a red/red complement filter or such as via anRCC (red, clear, clear) filter or the like. The logic and controlcircuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner, and theimage processing and algorithmic processing may comprise any suitablemeans for processing the images and/or image data.

For example, the vision system and/or processing and/or camera and/orcircuitry may utilize aspects described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,694,224;5,949,331; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978; 7,859,565; 5,550,677; 5,670,935;6,636,258; 7,145,519; 7,161,616; 7,230,640; 7,248,283; 7,295,229;7,301,466; 7,592,928; 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 6,882,287;5,929,786 and/or 5,786,772, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The system may communicate with othercommunication systems via any suitable means, such as by utilizingaspects of the systems described in International Publication Nos.WO/2010/144900; WO 2013/043661 and/or WO 2013/081985, and/or U.S.Publication No. US-2012-0062743, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

The imaging device and control and image processor and any associatedillumination source, if applicable, may comprise any suitablecomponents, and may utilize aspects of the cameras and vision systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 6,498,620; 5,670,935; 6,396,397;6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,937,667; 7,123,168; 7,004,606; 6,946,978;7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176; 6,313,454 and/or 6,824,281, and/orInternational Publication Nos. WO 2010/099416; WO 2011/028686 and/or WO2013/016409, and/or U.S. Pat. Publication No. US 2010-0020170, which areall hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Thecamera or cameras may comprise any suitable cameras or imaging sensorsor camera modules, and may utilize aspects of the cameras or sensorsdescribed in U.S. Publication No. US-2009-0244361 and/or U.S. Pat. Nos.8,542,451; 7,965,336 and/or 7,480,149, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. The imaging array sensor maycomprise any suitable sensor, and may utilize various imaging sensors orimaging array sensors or cameras or the like, such as a CMOS imagingarray sensor, a CCD sensor or other sensors or the like, such as thetypes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,715,093;6,922,292; 6,757,109; 6,717,610; 6,590,719; 6,201,642; 6,498,620;6,097,023; 6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 6,806,452; 6,396,397;6,822,563; 6,946,978; 7,339,149; 7,038,577; 7,004,606; 7,720,580 and/or7,965,336, and/or International Publication Nos. WO/2009/036176 and/orWO/2009/046268, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may beimplemented and operated in connection with various vehicularvision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles ofsuch other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023;6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149 and/or 7,526,103,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176 and/or7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly orrearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,949,331; 6,222,447; 6,302,545;6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202; 6,201,642; 6,690,268;6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452; 6,822,563; 6,891,563;6,946,978 and/or 7,859,565, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, a trailer hitching aid or tow checksystem, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,005,974, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a reverse orsideward imaging system, such as for a lane change assistance system orlane departure warning system or for a blind spot or object detectionsystem, such as imaging or detection systems of the types disclosed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 7,881,496; 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 5,929,786 and/or5,786,772, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a video device for internal cabin surveillance and/or videotelephone function, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962;5,877,897; 6,690,268 and/or 7,370,983, and/or U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, a traffic sign recognition system, a system fordetermining a distance to a leading or trailing vehicle or object, suchas a system utilizing the principles disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or the like.

Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displayingimages captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating thevehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a videodisplay device disposed at or in the interior rearview mirror assemblyof the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the video mirror displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268 and/or 9,264,672, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Thevideo mirror display may comprise any suitable devices and systems andoptionally may utilize aspects of the compass display systems describedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013; 7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860;7,004,593; 4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092;5,677,851; 5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953;6,173,508; 6,222,460; 6,513,252 and/or 6,642,851, and/or U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. Optionally, the video mirrordisplay screen or device may be operable to display images captured by arearward viewing camera of the vehicle during a reversing maneuver ofthe vehicle (such as responsive to the vehicle gear actuator beingplaced in a reverse gear position or the like) to assist the driver inbacking up the vehicle, and optionally may be operable to display thecompass heading or directional heading character or icon when thevehicle is not undertaking a reversing maneuver, such as when thevehicle is being driven in a forward direction along a road (such as byutilizing aspects of the display system described in InternationalPublication No. WO 2012/051500, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety).

Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the forward facing camera and arearward facing camera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle withexterior fields of view) may be part of or may provide a display of atop-down view or birds-eye view system of the vehicle or a surround viewat the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in International Publication Nos. WO 2010/099416; WO2011/028686; WO 2012/075250; WO 2013/019795; WO 2012/075250; WO2012/145822; WO 2013/081985; WO 2013/086249 and/or WO 2013/109869,and/or U.S. Pat. No. 9,264,672, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments canbe carried out without departing from the principles of the invention,which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent lawincluding the doctrine of equivalents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A driver assistance system of a vehicle,said driver assistance system comprising: a forward sensing sensordisposed at a vehicle equipped with said driver assistance system andhaving a field of sensing forward of the equipped vehicle, said forwardsensing sensor capturing data; wherein said forward sensing sensorcomprises one of (i) a forward viewing camera, (ii) an imaging thermalsensor and (iii) a 3D point-cloud LIDAR sensor; a processor operable toprocess data captured by said forward sensing sensor to determine thepresence of another vehicle ahead of the equipped vehicle and in thefield of sensing of said forward sensing sensor; a receiver disposed atthe equipped vehicle and operable to receive a wireless communication ofinformation pertaining to other traffic participants in the vicinity ofthe equipped vehicle; a control responsive to processing of captureddata and responsive to received information; wherein said control,responsive to determination via processing by said processor of captureddata that another vehicle is present ahead of the equipped vehicle, isoperable to adjust a headlamp beam setting of the equipped vehicle; andwherein said control, responsive to determination via receivedinformation that another traffic participant is present in the vicinityof the equipped vehicle, is operable to adjust the headlamp beam settingof the equipped vehicle.
 2. The driver assistance system of claim 1,wherein said forward sensing sensor comprises a forward viewing cameraand wherein said processor comprises an image processor that processesimage data captured by said forward viewing camera.
 3. The driverassistance system of claim 1, wherein said forward sensing sensorcomprises an imaging thermal sensor and wherein said processor processesdata captured by said imaging thermal sensor.
 4. The driver assistancesystem of claim 1, wherein said forward sensing sensor comprises a 3Dpoint-cloud LIDAR sensor and wherein said processor processes datacaptured by said 3D point-cloud LIDAR sensor.
 5. The driver assistancesystem of claim 1, wherein said wireless communication comprises avehicle-to-vehicle communication via a Wi-Fi communication link.
 6. Thedriver assistance system of claim 1, wherein said wireless communicationcomprises a communication using cell towers.
 7. The driver assistancesystem of claim 1, wherein said control is operable to adjust theheadlamp beam setting to a lower beam setting responsive to adetermination via received information that another vehicle isapproaching up a hill ahead of the equipped vehicle and not yet in thefield of sensing of said forward sensing sensor.
 8. The driverassistance system of claim 1, wherein said control is operable to adjustthe headlamp beam setting to a lower beam setting responsive to adetermination via received information that another vehicle is travelingalong a road that is generally parallel to the road traveled by theequipped vehicle and not yet in the field of sensing of said forwardsensing sensor.
 9. The driver assistance system of claim 1, wherein saidcontrol is operable to adjust the headlamp beam setting to a lower beamsetting responsive to a determination via received information thatanother vehicle is ahead of the equipped vehicle and outside of thefield of view of said forward sensing sensor.
 10. The driver assistancesystem of claim 1, wherein said control is operable to adjust theheadlamp beam setting to a lower beam setting responsive to adetermination via received information that another vehicle is ahead ofthe equipped vehicle but an object is obstructing the view by saidforward sensing sensor of the other vehicle.
 11. The driver assistancesystem of claim 1, wherein said control is operable to adjust theheadlamp beam setting to a lower beam setting responsive to adetermination via received information that the other vehicle is onanother road and approaching an intersection ahead of the equippedvehicle.
 12. The driver assistance system of claim 1, wherein saidreceiver receives wireless communication of information via one of avehicle-to-vehicle communication system and a vehicle-to-infrastructurecommunication system.
 13. The driver assistance system of claim 1,wherein said receiver receives wireless communication of informationfrom at least one of (i) another vehicle and (ii)a mobile device of apedestrian.
 14. A driver assistance system of a vehicle, said driverassistance system comprising: a forward camera disposed at a vehicleequipped with said driver assistance system and having a field of viewforward of the equipped vehicle, said forward camera capturing imagedata; an image processor operable to process image data captured by saidforward camera to determine the presence of another vehicle ahead of theequipped vehicle and in the field of view of said forward camera; areceiver disposed at the equipped vehicle and operable to receive awireless communication of information pertaining to other trafficparticipants in the vicinity of the equipped vehicle; wherein saidreceiver receives wireless communication of information via one of (i) avehicle-to-vehicle communication system, (ii) avehicle-to-infrastructure communication system and (iii) a mobile deviceof a pedestrian; a control responsive to processing by said imageprocessor of captured image data and responsive to received information;wherein said control, responsive to determination via processing by saidimage processor of captured image data that another vehicle is presentahead of the equipped vehicle, is operable to adjust a headlamp beamsetting of the equipped vehicle; and wherein said control, irrespectiveof processing by said image processor of captured image data, andresponsive to determination via received information that anothertraffic participant is present in the vicinity of the equipped vehicle,is operable to adjust the headlamp beam setting of the equipped vehicle.15. The driver assistance system of claim 14, wherein said control isoperable to adjust the headlamp beam setting to a lower beam settingresponsive to a determination via received information that anothervehicle is approaching up a hill ahead of the equipped vehicle and notyet in the field of view of said forward camera.
 16. The driverassistance system of claim 14, wherein said control is operable toadjust the headlamp beam setting to a lower beam setting responsive to adetermination via received information that another vehicle is ahead ofthe equipped vehicle and outside of the field of view of said forwardcamera.
 17. A driver assistance system of a vehicle, said driverassistance system comprising: a forward sensing sensor disposed at avehicle equipped with said driver assistance system and having a fieldof sensing forward of the equipped vehicle, said forward sensing sensorcapturing data; wherein said forward sensing sensor comprises one of (i)a forward viewing camera, (ii) an imaging thermal sensor and (iii) a 3Dpoint-cloud LIDAR sensor; a processor operable to process data capturedby said forward sensing sensor to determine the presence of anothervehicle ahead of the equipped vehicle and in the field of sensing ofsaid forward sensing sensor; a receiver disposed at the equipped vehicleand operable to receive a wireless communication of informationpertaining to other traffic participants in the vicinity of the equippedvehicle; wherein said receiver receives wireless communication ofinformation via one of (i) a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system,(ii) a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication system and (iii) a mobiledevice of a pedestrian; a control responsive to processing of captureddata and responsive to received information; wherein said control,responsive to determination via processing by said processor of captureddata that another vehicle is present ahead of the equipped vehicle, isoperable to adjust a headlamp beam setting of the equipped vehicle;wherein said control, irrespective of processing by said processor ofimage data, and responsive to determination via received informationthat another traffic participant is present in the vicinity of theequipped vehicle, is operable to adjust the headlamp beam setting of theequipped vehicle; and wherein said control is operable to adjust theheadlamp beam setting to a lower beam setting responsive to adetermination via received information that another vehicle is in thevicinity of the equipped vehicle and not determined to be present viaprocessing of captured data by said processor.
 18. The driver assistancesystem of claim 17, wherein said forward sensing sensor comprises aforward viewing camera and wherein said processor comprises an imageprocessor that processes image data captured by said forward viewingcamera.
 19. The driver assistance system of claim 17, wherein saidforward sensing sensor comprises an imaging thermal sensor and whereinsaid processor processes data captured by said imaging thermal sensor.20. The driver assistance system of claim 17, wherein said forwardsensing sensor comprises a 3D point-cloud LIDAR sensor and wherein saidprocessor processes data captured by said 3D point-cloud LIDAR sensor.